House Bill hb1229

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                HB 1229

        By Representative Arza






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to charter technical career

  3         centers; amending s. 228.505, F.S.; revising

  4         provisions relating to approval of a charter;

  5         deleting a requirement of the application to

  6         establish a center; revising the dates for

  7         submission and approval of an application;

  8         deleting provisions relating to issuance of a

  9         charter; revising provisions relating to the

10         basis of denial of an application; revising

11         provisions relating to funding of a center by

12         the center sponsor; providing an effective

13         date.

14

15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

16

17         Section 1.  Subsections (4) and (5), paragraphs (a) and

18  (c) of subsection (6), and paragraph (a) of subsection (11) of

19  section 228.505, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:

20         228.505  Charter technical career centers.--

21         (4)  CHARTER.--A sponsor may designate centers as

22  provided in this section.  An application to establish a

23  center may be submitted by a sponsor or another organization

24  that is determined, by rule of the State Board of Education,

25  to be appropriate. However, an independent school is not

26  eligible for status as a center.  The charter must be signed

27  by the governing body of the center and the sponsor, and must

28  be approved by the sponsor district school board and community

29  college board of trustees in whose geographic region the

30  facility is located. If a charter technical career center is

31  established by the conversion to charter status of a public

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                HB 1229

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  1  technical center formerly governed by a district school board,

  2  the charter status of that center takes precedence in any

  3  question of governance. The governance of the center or of any

  4  program within the center remains with its board of directors

  5  unless the board agrees to a change in governance or its

  6  charter is revoked as provided in subsection (15). Such a

  7  conversion charter technical career center is not affected by

  8  a change in the governance of public technical centers or of

  9  programs within other centers that are or have been governed

10  by district school boards. A charter technical career center,

11  or any program within such a center, that was governed by a

12  school board and transferred to a community college prior to

13  the effective date of this act is not affected by this

14  provision. An applicant who wishes to establish a center must

15  submit to the local school board or community college district

16  board of trustees, or a consortium of one or more of each, an

17  application that includes:

18         (a)  The name of the proposed center.

19         (b)  The proposed structure of the center, including a

20  list of proposed members of the board of directors or a

21  description of the qualifications for and method of their

22  appointment or election.

23         (c)  The workforce development goals of the center, the

24  curriculum to be offered, and the outcomes and the methods of

25  assessing the extent to which the outcomes are met.

26         (d)  The admissions policy and criteria for evaluating

27  the admission of students.

28         (e)  A description of the staff responsibilities and

29  the proposed qualifications of the teaching staff.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                HB 1229

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  1         (f)  A description of the procedures to be implemented

  2  to ensure significant involvement of representatives of

  3  business and industry in the operation of the center.

  4         (g)  A method for determining whether a student has

  5  satisfied the requirements for graduation specified in s.

  6  232.246 and for completion of a postsecondary certificate or

  7  degree.

  8         (h)  A method for granting secondary and postsecondary

  9  diplomas, certificates, and degrees.

10         (i)  A description of and address for the physical

11  facility in which the center will be located.

12         (j)  A method of resolving conflicts between the

13  governing body of the center and the sponsor and between

14  consortium members, if applicable.

15         (k)  A method for reporting student data as required by

16  law and rule.

17         (l)  Other information required by the local school

18  board or community college district board of trustees.

19

20  Students at a center must meet the same testing and academic

21  performance standards as those established by law and rule for

22  students at public schools and public technical centers.  The

23  students must also meet any additional assessment indicators

24  that are included within the charter approved by the district

25  school board or community college district board of trustees.

26         (5)  APPLICATION.--An application to establish a center

27  must be submitted by October February 1 of the year preceding

28  the school year in which the center will begin operation. The

29  sponsor must review the application and make a final decision

30  on whether to approve the application and grant the charter

31  within 60 days by March 1, and may condition the granting of a

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                HB 1229

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  1  charter on the center's taking certain actions or maintaining

  2  certain conditions. Such actions and conditions must be

  3  provided to the applicant in writing. The local school board

  4  or community college district board of trustees is not

  5  required to issue a charter to any person.

  6         (6)  SPONSOR.--A district school board or community

  7  college district board of trustees or a consortium of one or

  8  more of each may sponsor a center in the county in which the

  9  board has jurisdiction.

10         (a)  A sponsor must review all applications for centers

11  received through at least October February 1 of each calendar

12  year for centers to be opened at the beginning of the

13  sponsor's next school year.  A sponsor may receive

14  applications later than this date if it so chooses. To

15  facilitate an accurate budget projection process, a sponsor

16  shall be held harmless for FTE students that are not included

17  in the FTE projection due to approval of applications after

18  the FTE projection deadline. A sponsor must, by a majority

19  vote, approve or deny an application no later than 60 days

20  after the application is received.  If an application is

21  denied, the sponsor must, within 10 days, notify the applicant

22  in writing of the specific reasons for denial, which must be

23  based upon a finding that the application does not meet the

24  purpose or any other applicable requirement of this section

25  good cause. Upon approval of a charter application, the

26  initial startup must be consistent with the beginning of the

27  public school or community college calendar for the district

28  in which the charter is granted, unless the sponsor allows a

29  waiver of this provision for good cause.

30         (c)  The sponsor must act upon the recommendation of

31  the State Board of Education within 30 days after it is

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                HB 1229

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  1  received, unless the sponsor determines by competent

  2  substantial evidence that approving the state board's

  3  recommendation would be contrary to law or the best interests

  4  of the students or the community. The sponsor must notify the

  5  applicant in writing concerning the specific reasons for its

  6  failure to follow the state board's recommendation.  The

  7  sponsor's action on the state board's recommendation is a

  8  final action, subject to judicial review.

  9         (11)  FUNDING.--

10         (a)  Each school board and community college that

11  sponsors a charter technical career center shall pay directly

12  to the center at least 95 percent of eligible funds and may

13  retain up to 5 percent for administrative services an amount

14  stated in the charter.  State funding shall be generated for

15  the center for its student enrollment and program outcomes as

16  provided in law.  A center is eligible for funding from the

17  Florida Workforce Development Education Fund, the Florida

18  Education Finance Program, and the Community College Program

19  Fund, depending upon the programs conducted by the center.

20         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2002.

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22            *****************************************

23                          HOUSE SUMMARY

24
      With respect to charter technical career centers, revises
25    provisions relating to approval of a charter,
      requirements of the application to establish a center,
26    dates for submission and approval of an application, the
      basis of denial of an application, and funding of a
27    center by the center sponsor.

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